Janelle Monáe identifies as non-binary. Image Source: THEM
Janelle Monáe identifies as non-binary.
During her appearance on the Red Table Talk show with Jada Pinkett Smith, Janelle Monáe announced that she identifies as non-binary. Adrienne Banfield-Norris, Jada Pinkett Smith's mother, and Willow Smith, were among the hosts on Thursday.
Janelle Monáe said that she just does not see herself solely as a woman and feels all of her energy. The musician added that she believes that God is more than just a he or she, and if she is from God, then she is everything. Despite coming out as non-binary and stating that she does not see herself solely as a woman, she mentioned that she will always stand with women, especially black women, and that is always going to be her focus.
Janelle Monáe shared with the three women at the Red Table Talk show that she sees everything that she is beyond the binary. Janelle revealed her sexual orientation as pansexual in 2018, explaining that she senses people's energy before they introduce themselves or identify their sexual orientation, which allows her to fall in love with a beautiful spirit.
Janelle Monáe, who, according to her representative, continues to use the pronouns she/her, also stated that she is attempting to explore the concept of gender identity in light of how it relates to her. When Janelle was asked by Willow Smith at the table about what inspired or motivated her to come out to the world or speak so freely about identifying as non-binary, she said that somebody said that if you don’t work out the things you need to work out first before you share them with the world, then you’ll be working them out with the world. She added that that was something she did not want to do, so she thought she needed to have her answer correct and not end up saying anything wrong.
The musician shared that she took time to admit or share the news because she did not want her family to get questioned about her personal life, adding that a lot of people call her Little Pumpkin and see her exactly as she was when she was little. Janelle added that she needed to talk to her father, who took the news very greatly, and her sister already knew because she has been in monogamous and polyamorous relationships and added that she knew that she could not be little Janelle.
Janelle added that she is still trying to figure things out as she goes because when she considered herself bisexual before, she started to read and relate to pansexuality and eventually came out in 2018. In 2020, she tweeted # IAmNonBinary, and when asked why, she stated that it was in support of Non-Binary Day and to raise public awareness of the issue. Janelle is all set to feature in Knives Out 2, Netflix’s upcoming murder mystery.
During the talk, Janelle Monae also talked about how she is healing up after her father's drug addiction and her abandonment issues. She said that when she thinks about the time she started, she felt like a man when she was on stage but when she was off stage, she was scared. Janelle added that she felt like she was not good enough.
The singer, LGBTQ Icon, and advocate mentioned that her parents were not together so that made her think that will they love her and she used to think about why her father did not take care of her. She explained that he's clean now, sober, and doing incredibly good and they have become best of friends but it was hard when he was not sober and was abusing the substance. But now things are good.
She mentioned that when he was sick is when she had to go through rejection and abandonment issues because she thought about what if the people who left her were because of her father. Janelle said that she always felt like she was never perfect and always feared that people would leave her and added that she did not want to feel the pain of anybody leaving.
Janelle Monáe also went ahead to discuss her new book "The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer," which is a dystopian science fiction collection set in a totalitarian state that tackles themes of identity, queerness, and social justice.
